Mark Twain's frame story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" provides an opportunity for a study of this story-within-a-story pattern. Using an illustrated template, class members record a plot summary of the frame story...

Students review, examine and study the seven stages to a traditional legend or modern story in legend form. They locate two traditional legend stories and see if they fit into the two categories listed for them in two boxes. Each student...

Youngsters retell the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They write a sentence for speech bubbles for a character in the story, identify the phrases that can be used for retelling a story, and in small groups write a sentence for the...

Learners explore West Virginia history with regard to Mountain and Appalachian Culture. They compare and contrast life now with life 100-150 years ago. They write and illustrate a short story about the life of children 100-150 years ago....

Students explore seven basic story lines and apply these story lines to news articles in the New York Times. They write reports comparing the plot of a news article to novels, plays and movies with which they are familiar.

Sixth graders use several pieces of literature to identify specific story elements. In this story elements lesson, 6th graders analyze the story element of character, character traits, and setting for the example stories. Students work...

Students create their own magical story. In this story writing lesson plan, students listen to the story The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe b C.S. Lewis to find the basic elements of a story. They come up with their own magical...

Students analyze storytelling by reading a classic children's tale.  In this reading comprehension lesson, students read The Three Little Pigs, discuss their predictions and practice using the vocabulary from the story....

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is famous, in part, because it established a uniquely American form of humor. For this famous story, Mark Twain combines the tall-tale, the dialect story, and satire. Here is a resource...

Help your scholars create a class story. They will write a page of the story and illustrate that page. Then they use a variety of digital technologies to make the story come alive. A variety of digital resources are recommended for the...

Third graders write, illustrate, and publish a collaborative story. In this writing lesson, 3rd graders review story elements by reading stories written by professional authors and other students. They work in groups to write a...

Eighth graders discuss invention of bicycle and early obstacles to riding, listen to and discuss short story "Taming the Bicycle" by Mark Twain, define vocabulary words from story, and create and present humorous "how to" project to...

Second graders practice their reading comprehension by analyzing stories they read in class. In this children's literature lesson, 2nd graders are assigned to read a book for 20 minutes each day in class and also reflect on it in their...

Learners read and discuss the short story, "The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm," by Mark Twain. They assume the role of the main characters in the story and write a humorous letter of complaint using a business letter format. They...

A reading of Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County not only offers pupils an opportunity to practice their listening skills but also provides them with examples of dialectic speech. This is the gol’derndest lesson...

Read a Hans Wilhelm story and complete creative writing activities. Start by reading Tyrone, the Horrible and discuss the behavior in the book. Then split your class into groups to create a "bully" situation and discuss possible...

Make sure your class spends some time paying attention to the news by asking individuals to report on a current event. Using this sheet, pupils write down the title, source, and date before composing a brief summary and a personal...

Students examine the literary elements of fairy tales. After reading the fairy tale "Rapunzel" and discussing the elements of fairy tales that occur as they read, they use a story web to help plan and create an original fairy tale. ...

Students find a Dr. Seuss quote or saying from a selected book and relate it to their own life experience by using the quote in a short story. They choose a Dr. Seuss book from a pre-selected group or from the school library. Students...

Young scholars investigate entertaining characters within stories. In this writing lesson, students review nouns and adjectives and discuss magical characters. Young scholars ask themselves questions about their selected characters...

Fifth graders analyze a nursery rhyme to explore the writing process. For this writing process lesson, 5th graders recite Humpty Dumpty and chart the plot of the story. Students select their own nursery rhyme and write a creative story...

Learners examine literary elements in non-fiction literature. In this problem solving instructional activity, students read Rosa Parks, My Story and Beyond the Limits. Learners make oral presentations based on the causes and effects,...

What stories can a desk paperweight and picture frame possibly tell us about the president of the United States? Pupils are transported to the desk of President John F. Kennedy through an engaging interactive site. The guide offers...

Students investigate how artists create a story that provides a message or provokes emotions in a single image. The ways in which the composition of a painting contributes to telling the story or conveying the message is examined in this...